Human carcinogenesis: a disciplinary perspective

With the emergence of significant national efforts to comprehend and control the human cancers during the early 1970's, the existing biomedical disciplines of cellular pathology, virology and immunology seemed destined to play a central role in these efforts. Since that time, however, new biomedical disciplines, e.g., molecular toxicology, molecular epidemiology and molecular pathology/genetics, have emerged. Integration of the knowledge embraced by these disciplines provides a view of human cancer from natural historical perspectives embracing the causal chain, a view relevant to national priorities and policies in approaching cancer comprehension and control.